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Monday, May 29, 2017

One of the most important things you can do to relieve neck pain is to AVOID HEAD - FORWARD POSTURES. Put another way, avoid having your head out in front of the center of gravity of your body. Examples:

---bending your head forward to look down at a book or work at your desk,

---jutting your head forward, a very common, and often unconscious, posture when at your computer,

---leaning forward from your hips when sitting.

Think about it. In each case, your head is FORWARD of your body’s center of gravity. This causes the muscles in your neck to tighten up to support the weight of your head, which commonly weighs 10# or more!

Practice awareness of where your head is. When you notice it’s FORWARD, gently bring it back over your center of gravity. You will notice immediate relief.

Monday, May 22, 2017

Trying to identify the cause(s) of chronic, unrelenting headaches that plague some unfortunate patients is a challenge faced by Medical Doctors and Doctors of Chiropractic alike. There are many different types of headaches, and multiple causes.

Food triggers may be involved, in which a person gets headaches when they ingest certain foods or food additives. Stress, both biomechanical and emotional / psychological, is often part of the picture.

Now sleep apnea has emerged as a not-uncommon culprit. The mechanism is a disturbance in proportions of oxygen & carbon dioxide caused by interruptions or aberrance of breathing.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Disturbances to the pelvis, aka the "pelvic girdle," can cause the pelvis to becomeunlevel.

An example is when your pelvis becomes distorted, or out of proper alignment. One or more of the component bones may become slightly twisted, or stressed abnormally in a superior or inferior direction. Pelvic ligaments may be affected by abnormal stresses due to joint misalignments. Any or all of these may cause pain.

A distorted, unlevel pelvis makes an unstable foundation for your spine. Uncomfortable, this may lead to problems above, in your neck or shoulders. An unlevel pelvis may also have consequences downward, into the lower extremities.

As an Activator Chiropractor, I correct and balance an unlevel pelvis as part of every gentle, comfortable full-body balancing.

Monday, May 8, 2017

You may have heard that honey is healthier than table sugar. But is this true?

Perhaps it is, for these reasons: honey has ratios of glucose (30%) and fructose (40%) a bit lower than table sugar (50% glucose, 50% fructose). Table sugar breaks down quickly and causes a surge in blood sugar, whereas honey, which also contains other, different, and some more complex, sugars, breaks down slower. Dextrin, a starchy fiber in honey, also slightly slows the blood sugar surge.

Table sugar is highly processed, and is devoid of minerals. Honey may have tiny amounts of minerals, picked up by the bees as they went from flower to flower, varying by the region(s) where the bees collected their nectar.

The “big picture” is that sugar is sugar, and is implicated in many health problems, so it’s better to minimize consumption of any sugar. But if occasionally you’re choosing, choose honey.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Some things that often go along with aging are considered by Medicare to justify an extended, or longer term, of chiropractic care.

These include degeneration of spinal discs, usually associated with spondylosis, which means bony spur formation around vertebral edges. Another term for this is DJD, or degenerative joint disease. Sciatica, or low back pain with sciatica, as well as spinal stenosis, are other conditions that may warrant extended care.

Other co-morbidities, or health conditions which may complicate or impede healing, are diabetes, osteoporosis, and spinal curvatures such as scoliosis or kyphosis.